Round Rock Resilient: The good guys won their races for Round Rock ISD’s school board. Progressive school advocates Estevan “Chuy” Zarate, Melissa Ross, and Mingyuan “Michael” Wei cruised to easy victories over a trio of lesser-known candidates – Joshua Escalante, April Guerra, and Jim Steele. Voters approved three of the four RRISD propositions, as well.
Unfortunately, Though: We can’t say the same for elections in Texas’ House of Representatives. Somehow, the state’s lower chamber will be even more right-wing than before. Texas Republicans won races in the suburbs of cities like San Antonio, Dallas, and Austin, picking up two new seats while Texas Democrats failed to flip even a single seat. The results do not bode well for the 89th Texas Legislature, which convenes Jan. 14.
News From the State Houses: Meanwhile, Republicans flipped the Michigan House, and gained at least a tie in the Minnesota House with two races still uncalled. The Pennsylvania House remains undecided, with a few races too close to call.
And The Vote Goes On: Overall, according to Ballotpedia, Republicans held a majority in 56 state chambers nationwide, with Dems holding 41. At press time, that split is something like 51-26, with a whopping 22 chambers still undecided.
Abortion on the Ballot: Abortion rights had mixed results, with seven states passing rights measures, highlighted by a tight win in Missouri, but Florida and South Dakota declining to do so, and Nebraska passing a constitutional amendment forbidding abortion after the first trimester, with exceptions for medical emergency, incest, or sexual assault.
Doctors Plead for Action: More than a hundred Texas OB-GYNs urged elected leaders in a letter on Sunday to change abortion laws that are killing pregnant women, writing that as nurses they “know firsthand how much these laws restrict our ability to provide our patients with quality, evidence-based care.” The letter came after reporting by ProPublica last week showed that at least two women have been denied lifesaving care in Texas over the last three years because of Texas’ so-called “heartbeat law.” See our story in this week’s issue.
At Least That Didn’t Happen. Silver Linings?: It seems our criminally minded attorney general, Ken Paxton, would have been fine with violent protests from Donald Trump supporters, had Trump lost the election. On Monday, 51 other attorney generals around the nation signed on to a letter condemning potential violence and advocating the peaceful transfer of power. Paxton was one of just three AGs to not sign, KUT News reports.
It’s the Thought that Counts: It’s a little too late to give much of a shit but Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick did a strangely reasonable thing last week, publicly debunking claims by the Republican National Committee that Texas voting machines were automatically changing votes for Donald Trump to Kamala Harris.
More Democracy in South Texas: McAllen residents have approved the so-called “McAllen Anti-Corruption Act,” a pair of ballot propositions championed by the Austin-based progressive campaigners Ground Game Texas. The first proposition will reduce allowable campaign contributions, while the other will let McAllen residents petition for new ordinances.
Water Woes to be Addressed: City Council will update Austin’s Water Forward Plan this month, the Austin Monitor reports, along with the associated Water Conservation and Drought Contingency plans. The plans are updated every five years with the goal of making sure that we don’t die of thirst.
City Rent Fund Opening: Austin is preparing to deliver rent assistance to needy families. The city began accepting applications for assistance last Friday and will close the window to apply today, KUT reports.
More Lanes Whether We Want ’Em Or Not: TxDOT kicked off the expansion of I-35 on Wednesday at a ceremony atop a parking garage on the UT campus. Officials said they will increase I-35’s width between Ben White and U.S. 290 by three lanes in each direction and lower the highway 40 feet from Holly Street to Airport Boulevard.
The Bats Definitely Don’t Want ’Em: Speaking of the expansion, it’s not great news for the beloved Mexican free-tailed bat colonies that make the highway home. At least four bat colonies at Howard Lane, Wells Branch Parkway, Onion Creek, and the upper deck have been or will be displaced, KUT reports. Over 100,000 bats have lived in these sections of the highway, experts at Austin Bat Refuge say.
Quote of the Week
“You really can’t ‘Trump-proof.’ You can ‘Trump delay,’ you can throw sand in the gears, but there is no way short of legislation to ‘Trump-proof.’”
– An anonymous U.S. official told Politico of the Biden administration’s plans to protect their foreign policy priorities before Trump takes offic
This article appears in November 8 • 2024.